Last updated on October 6th, 2025 at 05:20 pm
It’s fitting that Garbage played First Avenue on what they’ve declared to be their last major North American headlining run, at least in the near future.
On Saturday night, the venue that has launched careers and staged countless legendary performances played host to a band that’s willing to admit what many won’t: Touring isn’t sustainable anymore, at least not at this level.
In front of a sold-out crowd, frontwoman Shirley Manson explained where the band is coming from.
“I’ve been saying this pretty much on the whole tour, and sometimes my band calls me Debbie Downer as a result, but you know I’ve always been very forthright with you all,” she began. “As you probably have read, Garbage has decided that we can no longer economically stomach the stresses of the new touring business. It’s built for pop stars, it’s built for mainstream success. It’s not built for esoteric bands, alternative bands, or any bands that are doing something a little out of mainstream taste.
“I just read that Wolf Alice are having the same problems; Miki Berenyi, formerly of Lush, she’s saying the same thing,” Manson continued. “It’s just become unsustainable, unfortunately. It does not mean we will not be playing shows. Hopefully, we will come back, maybe at some point?
“But, unfortunately, there are no guarantees. I don’t know when we’ll see you all again. But I just want you all to know that on behalf of everybody on this stage tonight, we are so f—cking grateful to you all.
“We have never ever taken you all for granted, ever, and you have pulled us out of the ditch more times than you probably are aware. We’ve had a long, long career—30 years—and there have been incredible highs and extraordinary lows,” Manson concluded. “Thank you for everything. We love you so, so much.”
In recent months, it’s been reported that the 59-year-old vocalist’s concern extended beyond Garbage’s own circumstances and instead to younger musicians sleeping in vans and unsafe motels between gigs. It’s a reality check that hangs over this tour, even as she and her original bandmates Duke Erikson, Steve Marker, and Butch Vig (along with touring bassist Nicole Fiorentino) deliver performances that show no signs of fatigue.
On Saturday night, Starcrawler was first to step on First Avenue’s stage. It’s likely these five, 20-something performers are the kind of young artists Manson has been referring to.
The Los Angeles–based band, which formed in 2015, is composed of vocalist Arrow de Wilde, guitarist Henri Cash, pedal steel/guitarist Bill Cash, bassist Tim Franco, and drummer Seth Carolina.
Decked out in black, pink, and sparkles to match their bubblegum pink gear—everything from mics to cables to amps—Starcrawler brought unhinged energy to their nine-song set. They played a variety of tracks from their three studio albums, Starcrawler, Devour You, and She Said.
The more-than-6-feet-tall de Wilde in particular commanded the room with her endless unhinged energy. At the end of their last song, she walked off stage while her bandmates continued to play. Henri Cash climbed on top of the amps and then, seemingly to the surprise of his guitar tech, climbed up onto First Avenue’s balcony. While both the tech and the venue’s crew fed him more and more pink cable, he continued to play his guitar through the song’s entirety.
Overall, it was a chaotic, lurid, and attitude-filled spectacle that got the crowd ready for the main attraction.
Garbage arrived to thunderous applause. The band released their eighth studio album, Let All That We Imagine Be The Light, in May, and Saturday’s show drew from it as well as the songs that built their reputation in the ’90s.
The newer material flowed seamlessly with the classics, which suggests they’re still making the music they want to make. That only makes the economic reality forcing this “final tour” decision all the more frustrating.
Dressed in all black, her waist cinched with a studded belt that read “POWER TO THE PEOPLE,” Manson, in between songs, had words not only for the music industry, but also for the current state of the world. Before Garbage began playing “Bleed Like Me,” the Scotland-born vocalist took the chance, as she often does, to share her thoughts.
“We’re gonna play a song that is the title track of our fourth studio record. It has become an anthem of ours in a way that we never really expected, and it has never been more prescient than it is now,” she told a rapt audience. “It’s essentially a song about ‘othering’ of others, pointing fingers at how different somebody is and judging them for it, and being cruel about it.
“The times that we’re living in seem extremely precarious to me, and really worrisome,” Manson continued. “Every day I wake up and the news is more and more extreme. What we’re permitting happening to people is getting more vulgar and cruel. … I’ve never seen anything like it, and I’m sure you haven’t either.
“I know that most of us who actually have good hearts don’t want to see other people suffer. We may not always agree with how they live … but that’s really quite irrelevant. The most beautiful thing about this world we share is that we’re all different. We come from different perspectives, we express ourselves differently, we worship different gods, we wear f—king different clothes, we eat different foods, we come from all kinds of ethnic backgrounds, and so on.
“A lot of young people have been asking me lately, ‘What the f—k do we do? How can we counteract this?’ And I think, ultimately, we have to remain hopeful, and we have to remain kind. These sound like clichés, but these clichés exist because they’re truisms.
“These are perilous times we are all living through, and if we don’t learn to hold each other’s hands, we’re all f—ked,” she said. “Greater civilizations than us have been destroyed over the centuries. We cannot afford to let that happen to us. This is under our watch. We have to get smart, we have to organize. We must not tolerate cruelty.”
The connection between Garbage and the audience felt especially charged, given the circumstances; both of the state of the world and of the end of the band’s North American touring plans.
But above all, what was felt in the historic venue was love and loyalty. The audience seemed to be there not for a “greatest hits” victory lap. Instead, they were invested in the full scope of what Garbage has been and continues to be.
First Avenue has been home to countless farewells over the decades. This one felt pragmatic, to be sure. And while many in the crowd no doubt felt disappointed by this ending, there was also a sense of elation after witnessing, in person, this incredibly talented band. Even if it may have been for the last time.
SETLIST:
- There’s No Future in Optimism
- Hold
- I Think I’m Paranoid
- Vow
- Run Baby Run
- The Trick Is to Keep Breathing
- Not My Idea
- Hammering in My Head
- Wolves
- #1 Crush
- Bleed Like Me
- Queer
- Chinese Fire Horse
- When I Grow Up
- Push It
- Cherry Lips (Go Baby Go!)
- The Day That I Met God
- Encore:
- Stupid Girl
- Only Happy When It Rains
